CHURCH MEMBERS CLAIM BISHOP MISUSED FUNDS.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer BURBANK - Members of a local church filed suit against their bishop, saying he mismanaged more than $4 million in donations but refuses to show them how he spent the money. More than 100 parishioners of St. Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church, 900 N. Glenoaks Blvd., have accused Bishop Clemis Eugene Kaplan of raising the money, then squandering squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. it, possibly in a phony charity. ``Our church is in turmoil. It's become brother against brother,'' said parishioner Jacob Griar of Burbank. ``We just want the church back. ``The reason we have the lawsuit is he may decide to put the church up for sale to pay everybody back,'' he said. ``Our church has bylaws The rules and regulations enacted by an association or a corporation to provide a framework for its operation and management. Bylaws may specify the qualifications, rights, and liabilities of membership, and the powers, duties, and grounds for the dissolution of an and he's broken every single one.'' Elias Danho, a member of the church's finance committee who spoke on behalf of Kaplan, refused to discuss specific allegations contained in the suit. But he said the suit does not represent the feelings of the entire congregation. ``These people represent 10 percent of the congregation,'' Danho said. ``We've been here in Burbank for 15 years. We've never had any problems. They have an agenda against the bishop.'' On recent Wednesdays and Sundays, supporters of the lawsuit held protests at the church, demanding Kaplan's dismissal. The protests, which are monitored by the Burbank Police Department The Burbank Police Department is the police department serving Burbank, California. Tim Stehr became the Police Chief of the department on August 1, 2007. The previous chiefs were Thomas Hoefel, David Newsham and Glen Bell. , have been loud but so far no arrests have been made. ``There's been some pushing and shoving, but nothing more than that,'' said Burbank police spokesman Sgt. Will Berry Berry, former province, France Berry (bĕrē`), former province, central France. Bourges, the capital, and Châteauroux are the chief towns. . ``The only involvement the Burbank Police Department has is ensuring that both sides are safe.'' Some church members call the protesters a small group who simply do not like Kaplan, who was chosen by the church patriarch patriarch, in the Bible patriarch (pā`trēärk), in biblical tradition, one of the antediluvian progenitors of the race as given in Genesis (e.g., Seth) or one of the ancestors of the Jews (e.g. in Syria during a tribunal A general term for a court, or the seat of a judge. In Roman Law, the term applied to an elevated seat occupied by the chief judicial magistrate when he heard causes. tribunal n. . Danho said it is unlikely Kaplan can decide to sell the church, because he would need approval from the patriarch and the congregation. He also said the accounts are open for any church member to see how funds are spent. ``These people are trying to escalate es·ca·late v. es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates v.tr. To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. v.intr. everything,'' Danho said, adding that the church has sent letters to neighbors, apologizing for the loud protests. ``We're trying to contain the situation.'' Susan Abram, (818) 546-3304 susan.abram(at)dailynews.com |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion